Device for displaying merchandise



July 12, 1938. w. s. POWERS DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING MERCHANDISE Filed Oct.5, 19556 INVENTOR 'W/zz/AM 5. Pan 5% Patented July 12, 1938 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING MERCHANDISE William S.Powers, New York, N. Y., assignor to The W. F. Powers Company, New York,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 5, 1936, Serial No.104,079

1 Claim.

ping boxes or containers for the merchandise to be displayed; and theobject of the invention is to provide a unitary collapsible displaydevice of the class and for the purpose specified, which when extendedwill form a hollow or tubular display device adapted to envelop orencircle one or more containers for the products to be displayed, andfurther to provide at the upper portion of the display and above thecontainer arranged therein a compartment or merchandise {5 displaysection upon which the articles may be arranged in stacked, piled orother arrangement so as to provide a raised and readily visible andaccessible display of the actual merchandise being offered for sale; afurther object being to provide a device of the class described havingchar acterized wall portions, one of which is severed from one part ofthe display and arranged and mounted in spaced relation thereto to forma top protruding display section; a further object being to providemeans for maintaining said top display section in upright position; afurther object being to provide means for reinforcing the upper edge ofthe front wall of the d-isplayy'a further object being to provide meansfor forming a stepped supporting section at'the top of the display toprovide a stepped or staggered arrangement of merchandise thereon, andfurther, with means for bracing and supporting said stepped section; astill further object being to provide a display of the class describedconsisting of front and side printed or lithographed display wallportions which are integrally formed and anupwardly projectingcharacterized back wall portion with means involving a supplemental backwall member for securing said parts together d .50 of my improvement aredesignated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a display device made according to myinvention with parts of 5,5 the construction broken away and in section.

' Fig. 2 is a rear view of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the lower end portion of thedisplay, illustrating the same in a partially collapsed position.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the upper end portion of a display suchas illustrated inFig. 1 of the drawing, and showing a modification; and,

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

In displaying merchandise, and especially in providing what are known asfloor displays, it has been customary to employ heavy or substantialboard in the construction of such displays so as to be sufficientlystrong to maintain and support the articles to be placed on display, anddevices of this kind have been very costly to produce and thus havefound limited uses.

It is one of the distinctive features of my invention to provide adevice of the class under consideration which is composed of very light,printed or lithographed material which simply forms a jacket orenclosure for one or more containers, the latter serving as means forsupporting the display in extended position and further, as the meansfor supporting the-merchandise to be arranged in'the display and exposedthrough the upper end thereof, the material of the display jacket orenclosure being of sufficient weight or thickness tosupportitself, andespecially with certain parts thereof braced and reinforced as morefully hereinafter set forth; In this manner, the desired display may beproduced at a very nominal cost, thus facilitating a more extensive usethereof.

While the invention is adapted primarily for use as a floor display inconjunction with wood, metal, cardboard or corrugated board containers,the same may be used as a counter, shelf or table display. The contourof the display will depend entirely upon the form of the carton orcontainer in conjunction with which the same is to be used as well asthe number of cartons to be arranged in the display to govern the heightthereof.

In Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, I have shown one method of carrying myinvention into effect. In these figures, l0 represents the displayjacket, housing or enclosure formed from a relatively thin, printed,lithographed or otherwise characterized sheet 12, a detached part ofwhich is indicated at 12a. This characterized sheet is scored so as tofold the lines I3 and M to divide the same into a front panel or wall 55and side the device is set up for use.

panels or walls I6 and II, the latter being folded centrally andlongitudinally as indicated at It; so as to collapse the display in themanner indicated in Fig. 4. At the rear edges of the side walls I6 andI! are foldable flanges l9 and 2G. The upper edge of the front wall l5also includes a wide foldable flap or flange 2|, which, in theconstruction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, is folded downwardlyand inwardly so as to reinforce said upper edge of the front wall and toprovide a neat and finished upper edge 22 of the display. The side wallsl6 and II at their front edges project above the folded edge 22 as seenat 23. Said upper edges are beveled as seen at 24 so as to provide anattractive upper display end for the device. In this connection, it willbe understood that any desired contour may be formed on the upper edgeof the side walls to suit the type of merchandise placed on display orthe manner of arranging such merchandise thereon.

The part l2a forms a part of the sheet l2, or, in other words, ischaracterized by printing, lithographing or otherwise in one operationtherewith, the lower edge lZb of the part lZa normally joining the freeedge I2c of the flap or flange 2|, In forming the device, the part l2ais severed and wire stitched or otherwise attached to the upper endportions of the flanges l9 and 2!! as indicated at 25 in Fig. 2 of thedrawing. The part l2a forms the upper end portion of the back wall ofthe display and the upper edge 26 of said part may be of any irregularcontour to form a display section, displaying or characterizing themerchandise arranged in front thereof. The front characterized face ofsaid part i2a may have a section such as the circular section indicatedby the dot and dash line 21, upon which the sales price of themerchandise may be arranged, or this section may serve as means forreceiving sales price tickets or sheets which may be changed from timeto time.

At 28, I have indicated in dot and dash lines an uncharacterized portionof the part 12a which will normally be arranged thereon in the shipmentor transportation of the display, but which will be torn off or severedon the line 29 when The purpose of the portion 28 is to protect andguard the projecting display part In in transit.

At 30, I have shown a separate sheet forming the back wall proper of thedevice, and this sheet is not characterized in the construction shown,and is preferably composed of slightly heavier and of a cheaper grade ofmaterial than that employed in the part I2, [2a. This back wall part 39is secured in position by wire stitches or other fastening means 3|passing therethrough and through the flanges l9 and 20 as seen in Fig. 2of the drawing. The back wall part 33 includes an upwardly projectingtongue portion 32 centrally thereof, which is arranged upon the rearsurface of the lower end portion of the part l2a and serves to maintainsaid part |2a against outward movement.

I also preferably employ on the rear surface of the part l2a, avertically arranged reinforcing strip 33 for maintaining the part I211,and especially the protruding portion thereof in upright position. Oneside 33a of the strip is glued or otherwise secured to the rear surfaceof the part l2a, whereas the other side 33b is normally arranged uponthe rear surface of the part lZa in the shipment of the device and isadapted to be extended at right angles thereto as seen in Figs. 2

and 3 of the drawing and is held in such position by a lock element 330formed from the material thereof as in other bracing devices of thiskind. It is understood that the element 330 is also normally arrangedflatly upon the part l2a and extended into the right angle positionshown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing when the device is in use.

In the use of my improved device, one of the displays may be shippedwith each box, carton or container for the merchandise to be displayed,or one of the displays may be sent with a shipment of such boxes,depending entirely upon the requirements of the store keeper; or in somecases, where the display device is used in conjunction with two or moreof the boxes or containers, a display device will be supplied with thesale of such number of containers as to be used in conjunctiontherewith.

To illustrate the latter use, I have indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing,two similar boxes or cartons 34, 34a arranged one upon the other withinthe walls l5, I6, I! and 30 of the display. The upper surface 341) ofthe uppermost box 34 is arranged below the edge 22 so as to form acountersunk chamber or compartment which will support the lowermostarticles 35 below or partially below the edge 22, whereas the remainderof such articles may be stacked or piled to extend upwardly above theedge 22 and within the upper ends of the side walls It and II, it beingpreferred that the upper portion of the back wall part [2a remainextended above the top of the articles so as to form a top finishing ordisplay section as well as the price sheet supporting section.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that all or part of the articles35 normally contained in the boxes or cartons 34, 34a may be removedtherefrom, the display Ill then slipped on over the two boxes whenarranged one upon the other, and then the articles 35 arranged inposition. The boxes 34, 34a fit snugly within the walls of the display land will serve to support said walls in extended position and also serveto support the articles at the upper or open end of the display.

In some instances, it may be found desirable to simply open the top of abox or container, then place the display device thereover and simplyarrange the articles contained in the box in any desired manner withinthe upper portion of the display, or, in other words, at the upper openend of the box. This would be especially true with various kinds andclasses of canned goods.

In Figs. and 6, I have shown a slight modification which consists simplyin providing a supplemental part 36 which will be wire stitched orotherwise securedto the flap or flange 2|, the part 36 being of a widthequal to the length of the flange 2| or substantially equal to thedistance between the adjacent surfaces of the side walls I 6 and II. Thepart 36 is scored and folded a number of times to form, in addition tothe horizontally arranged flange or flap 2|,two step platforms orsupporting shelves 31 and 38. The inner end of the platform 38 isarranged adjacent the part I21; and is provided with projecting members39 adapted to pass through the part l2a to retain the part 36 in itsassembled position as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawing.

I also preferably cut from the central portion of the part 36 an'uprightsupporting member 4!] and a foot portion 4| which aids in bracing thecentral portion of the stepped article supporting part 36. With thisconstruction it is preferred that the upper end of the box partiallyindicated at 42 in Fig. 5 of the drawing be arranged adjacent thefoot-piece 4| as well as the lower end portion 43 of the part 36attached to the flap 2 I.

When the display device is in collapsed position, the part 36 willextend onto the part l2a and will aid in protecting the cut-out displayportion 26 of the part IZa. The article supporting part 36 may be ofdifferent forms in cross section to adapt the same for use in differentkinds and classes of display and to suit merchandise of different formsand dimensions.

Upon a consideration of Fig. 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that thelower edge of the back wall part 30 terminates short of the lower end ofthe walls l5, l6 and I1, forming a relatively large opening 44 at theback of the display. The purpose of this construction is to facilitatethe placement of the display on a box or container or the operation ofslipping the same thereover. This is especially advantageous if, foruncontrollable reasons, the display shouldfit snugly on the box. It willbe understood in this connection that a tight fit is not essential, but,in any event, it would be somewhat difficult to apply a display l0 overa box if the lower edge of the part 30 were in alinement with the loweredges of the other walls thereof. The lower ends of the flanges l9 and20 being unattached to the wall 30 are free to flex outwardly ifdesired. In referring to the characterization of the wall portions 15,I6, l1 and l2a,

it will be understood that all of these wall portions may haveadvertising or display characters or any kind or class arranged thereonto attract attention to the complete display unit and to include suchmarkings as trade marks, trade names or symbols of merchandiseidentification.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

A display device of the class described comprising a tubular body, saidbody being fashioned from one characterized sheet of thin materialfolded to form a front wall, side walls foldable upon each other andrear projecting flanges, a back wall sheet secured to said flanges, theside walls being foldable centrally'to collapse upon each other and thefront wall upon said back Wall, a supplemental back wall part attachedto the flanges of said side walls at the upper end thereof to provide anupwardly projecting display section, the upper edge of the front wallhaving an inwardly folded flange, the back wall sheet terminating shortof the lower end of said body to form a large opening at the backthereof, and the upper end of said back wall sheet having an upwardlyextending flange arranged rearwardly of and serving to reinforce thelower edge portion of said supplemental back wall part.

WI LIAM S- POWERS.

